The silence that followed felt like it lasted seventeen years. I could hear my own heartbeat, the hum of the heating system, and someone in the back clearing their throat.
“Actually—” Mario started.
“He’s shy!” June called out from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. “Come on, Mario! We’ve all been waiting!”
A ripple of encouraging laughter spread through the room. Someone else shouted, “Ask her!” Another voice added, “We’re all rooting for you!”
The mayor leaned into the microphone with the enthusiasm of a game show host. “The Facebook group has been very invested in your romance, haven’t they? Two hundred and thirty-seven members all holding their breath tonight!”
Mario’s jaw tightened, a muscle jumping beneath the skin. I could see him calculating, strategizing, looking for an exit that didn’t exist.
“So?” the Mayor prompted. “Any special announcements? The whole town’s been buzzing with excitement!”
This was it. The moment where Mario would have to choose between maintaining our lie and being honest about his plans. Where he’d either commit to this charade or reveal that it had always had an expiration date.
I looked at him, waiting. Hoping, despite everything, that he’d find a way to navigate this without destroying us both.
“We’re not ready to make any announcements,” he said carefully, his voice steady despite the circumstances.
The crowd’s energy shifted, confused murmurs replacing eager anticipation.
“Not ready?” Patricia Downs’ voice cut through the uncertainty like a blade. She’d positioned herself near the front, her smile sharp enough to draw blood. “Or not staying long enough for announcements to matter?”
My chest tightened. Here it came.
“I’m sorry?” Mayor Gable looked confused.
Patricia stepped closer to the stage, her voice carrying easily through the now-silent room. “I heard some exciting news about a certain job offer in Italy. Congratulations, Mario. Technical director is quite prestigious.”
The words hit the crowd like a shock wave. Heads turned, whispers started, and suddenly everyone was looking between Patricia, Mario, and me like we were actors in a play they couldn’t follow.
“Is it true?” I heard myself ask, my voice barely above a whisper. But the microphone caught it anyway, amplifying my question through the entire room. “The job offer in Italy?”
Mario’s face went completely blank—that neutral expression he wore when journalists asked questions he didn’t want to answer. “Lily, we should talk about this privately?—”
“The whole town’s been talking about it publicly,” I said, my voice getting stronger and shakier at the same time. “Patricia says the offer came with a deadline. This Friday.”
His silence stretched like a rubber band about to snap.
“You got an offer,” I continued, the pieces falling into place with horrible clarity. “To go back to racing. In Italy. And you’ve been considering it.”
“It’s complicated?—”
“When were you going to tell me?” The question burst out of me before I could stop it.
“After you let Olivia get even more attached? After you helped her plan that heritage project around your family’s traditions? After you let my entire family plan Christmas dinner around you being here?”
His jaw worked like he was trying to form words that wouldn’t come.
“Or were you just going to disappear? Like—” I stopped myself before I could say Daniel’s name, but the comparison hung in the air, anyway.
“This isn’t the place for this conversation,” Mario said, reaching toward me.
I stepped back instinctively. “No, you’re wrong. This is perfect. The whole town orchestrated this relationship. They deserve to see how it ends.”
“It doesn’t have to end,” he said, and there was something desperate in his voice that made my heart clench. “The offer doesn’t mean?—”
“You’re taking it.” It wasn’t a question. I could see the answer on his face, in the way he stood, in the careful way he wasn’t denying it.
